Exploring Vienna

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After finally getting to sleep following a full day of travel, it was up and out early to begin our tour of Vienna. We were on the bus by 7:40 am and at Schonbrunn Palace by 8 am. Great timing by our tour director had us entering the palace in the cool of the morning, making us the first group walking through. No crowds and no heat. After our tour guide gave us a thorough history of Maria Theresa who lived in the palace bearing 16 children while ruling Austria, we had a brief time to visit the gardens behind the palace.

After leaving the Schonbrunn, we drove through Vienna passing many local landmarks and seeing how the residents live. Most residents live in apartment buildings some of which are ornate. We also passed government buildings, universities, and music venues.

We finally left the bus to walk through the historic district of Vienna. We passed through the Rose Garden, Hofburg Palace, the home of the Hapsburgs, and finally on to St. Stephen's Cathedral. From there we had the rest of the afternoon to explore on our own. We sent into St. Stephen's for some photos and then headed to a geocache that Fred had researched before we left home. The geocache led us to the Anchor Clock which chimed for 12 noon shortly after our arrival. After chiming the hour, the clock preceded to play music as the figures for each hour scrolled across the face of the clock. A truly unique clock. Having had no lunch at this point, we stopped at a cafe and had an iced chocolate. Perfect for a very hot day. Yum!

From there we started making our way back toward our hotel. We passed several geocaches on the way including the smallest vineyard in Vienna.

At both palaces you could take a carriage ride, and although we did not partake in the ride, we did enjoy seeing the horses wearing their little hats.

Tomorrow we depart Vienna and make our way to Salzburg.

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